Leaning back in his chair the King of Alcott massages his temples as he reads over another report on the state of the continent. “Well, at least we managed to get most of the major nations on our side.” The document in front of him shows a list of nations that both The King and The Oracle had managed to convince, with the miraculous and often annoying help of The Dragon Empire, that The System was an enemy.
“People are still disconnecting all the time with the help of the System breaking toolkit Lua had left for us.” The normally aloof silver haired woman who backs the Kingdom of Alcott has her back hunched as she glares at reports of her own. Bags sit under The Oracle’s eyes due to a lack of sleep, nightmares and stress induced insomnia have been keeping her up as she rethinks every decision she has ever made. After being disconnected from The System herself, The Oracle can’t help but question how she is now and what actions were even her own.
The Oracle had promised Lua that she would do her best to throw away her prejudices, and she had managed to succeed for the most part. But letting such a foundational part of one’s worldview go has done far too much mental harm. Normally, someone dealing with mental struggles would consult with a specialized mental mage who would reduce their stress or erase troubling memories. However, The Oracle had developed a severe aversion to mental mages. If anything, the idea of having her mind tampered with had begun redirecting the same hate she had for the demi-humans towards those with the ability to affect her mind.
Groaning, The Oracle throws a stack of papers over to The King who catches them without even looking up. “It's getting worse.” These new files show a new problem that has been rapidly developing. While Lua’s toolkit has been put to use in many places, not everyone trusts or even wants to use them. Many nations are so wholly dependent on The System that the idea of giving up the advantage it gives them is just causing them to lash out. Worst of all, some nations worship The System as their god, so the suggestion from the newly labeled Anti-System Faction is seen as blasphemy.
“Great… While the Anti-System Faction and System Faction are on the verge of war with each other, we can at least be glad that the System Faction can’t really do much in the face of the overwhelming power held by The Dragon Empire.” Cracking his neck the King slumps back in his chair as an assistant brings in another set of documents. By some miracle, The Dragon Empire actually decided to join the Anti-system Faction. The King and even The Oracle are both thankful that The Empire is a dictatorship under that annoying Dragon Emperor for once.
“It seems that the Divine Theocracy is still undecided and has chosen to stay neutral in the debate. Though that is most likely because there is a heavily split opinion among their Bishops. Apparently half see The System’s control as an affront to their gods while the rest believe that The System is a gift from god.” Taking a sip from her long cold tea, The Oracle feels hands grip her cup’s handle with far too much strength. Damn fanatics, this is why I was never religious. Grumbling internally, The Oracle notices her hand turning white around the teacup and lets her tension go. I am so glad I got that set of adamantite cups, or I would have long broken them over the course of the past few weeks.
The mere idea that The System is a gift in any way even has The King looking confused and annoyed. “How can they even believe that something that controls your mind is okay…?”
“They believe that The System is ‘providing gods’ guidance’ to us…”
“Fucking stupid.” Shaking his head The King sets down another set of documents and stamps approval for yet another reform he has put in place since he was freed from The System. “Regardless of the factional division forming, the factions can at the very least agree that The Demon Lord is a thread that needs to be taken down.” This tense alliance is only holding due to some extensive propaganda The Dragon Emperor has been putting out. At the moment, rumors are spreading that The Demon Lord is manipulating The System to cause the mind controlling aspects, and that The System is fighting back. These rumors are mixed with another set that everyone should disconnect for now until the safety of The System can be secured.
Thanks to the numerous other similar rumors spreading, the people, while very confused, still see The Demon Lord as the main culprit of all of their problems. Even The System Faction believes that it is best to take out The Demon Lord first, though some of their animosity is directed towards The Hero for those not buying into the propaganda.
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“Each faction has begun forming armies in preparation of attacking The Sea of Trees in hope of flushing out The Demon Lord. Thanks to the support of The Dragon Empire our power should be far greater than that of The System Faction’s at the very least. It seems that things are more chaotic in The System Faction due to the member nations having been hit harder by the Demon Lord’s assault.” The Oracle would not call it lucky, but she had noticed that the nations who are part of The System Faction lost far more officials and nobles than places like her nation. This was something The King noticed as well, and he found it to be an odd trend in how hard some nations were hit but dismissed any thoughts on the matter considering much more important things were going on.
Staring down at the papers on his desk, The King feels a bit nervous about what he is about to say considering The Oracle’s stance on such matters, but he says it anyway. “I reached out to the dwarven and elven nations for cooperation in this fight against The Demon Lord and The System. I was hoping to use this opportunity to begin mending the division between our kinds.”
For all the Oracle’s previous hate, she does not even bother to react to this news. She had always known that The King disapproved of her view on demi-humans. She snorts at the anxiety on his face. If you were paying more attention you would have noticed I already approved of several reforms involving demi-humans you dolt. Keeping the harsh words to herself, The Oracle just asks about the reply.
Sadly, but not unexpectedly, every single elven and dwarven nation turned them down. The endless violence and discrimination against their kin for thousands of years, not being something that can be forgiven so easily. “Perhaps The Hero can approach them for cooperation?” The Oracle does not trust in either faction's ability to fight against the Demon Lords’ forces. She also wants to form an alliance with the demi-humans to bolster their numbers and power. “I know my magic is not combat focused, but I still could not defeat a single demon even with the help of my guards…” Clenching her fist tightly the images of the fight and her lost friends flash though her mind.
“You mentioned having faced a demon before, I don’t think I ever asked, but was this one stronger?” Doing his best to tread around the subject lightly, The King presses The Oracle for whatever information he can on this threat.
“It is complicated, you see this one was undoubtedly of a lower class than the one I fought with my party back in the day. However, the power it had a hold of was somehow at the same level, and worse than that the intelligence the creature had displayed with its tactics was far superior. If that is a mere foot-soldier of this Demon Lord, I can’t imagine facing them on a battlefield.” Shivering to herself The Oracle’s face twists as she sees nothing but slaughter in the future. For some reason, despite her evolved divination magic, she is still unable to learn anything about The Demon Lord’s forces or plans. It is infuriating and terrifying.
“Fuck.” Muttering curses under his breath, The King goes to ask more but is cut off by an attendant entering the room.
Bowing quickly the attendant looks directly at The Oracle, mostly ignoring her king, and begins speaking. “I reached out to the Hero through her maid as directed, she should be heading back soon. Apparently she had a run in with what her party believes to be the Demon Lord.”
“What?!” The information rockets both state leaders to their feet as they shout in unison.
Calmly, the attendant begins to describe the encounter as explained to her by The Hero’s maid. “Yes, somehow it let her live despite being at least Class 5 by their estimate. And worse it seems to be planning something that involves The Hero and our fight against The System.” The attendant went on to speak of several things that Lua had discovered at the temple and the theories they had come up with. The more she spoke, the deeper the scowl on The King’s and The Oracle’s faces became.
“Sigh. Perhaps we should delay the march into the forest?” The King can’t help but wonder if it is even a good idea to send anyone into the forest with the current state of affairs.
“No, it will already take several weeks to organize the offensive. Everyone is still recovering from the last attack which led to the deaths of many government officials. I assume that was the demon lord’s plan, to keep us from being able to retaliate by taking out our leaders.
And now that we have no choice but to escape The System which is causing the nations to form these factions… humanity has never been more divided.” Looking depressed, The Oracle places a hand to her head as she prays that The Hero can make it back safely. She really is our only hope at the moment.
NOTE: Chapter 25 will be posted at 3pm EST today instead of the usual time. My brain finally got a jump-start and I have a clear idea of what I want to happen next.
Who do you think will die first?
